Santasiere had an up-close view as old Yankee Stadium, arguably the most famous venue in sports history, shut down its gates for the last time last fall.

And he has been there to see the new Yankee Stadium, the one stirring up all kinds of opinions, this spring.

The new stadium will be the focal point of the baseball world this weekend as the Mets come to the Bronx for the first "Subway Series" of the summer.

As more and more people get a glimpse of the new stadium, their fondness for the one across the street grows and that's good for Santasiere, who has written two books about "The House That Ruth Built."

His latest one, titled "The Final Season," covers all that transpired last spring, summer and fall as fans said goodbye to perhaps the greatest sports shrine.

"It was an unbelievable chance for me to document it all, starting with the papal Mass in April," Santasiere said. "I was with the pope the entire time he was at the stadium, other than when he was at the altar.

"Then at the All-Star Game, I was the only [other] person inside Monument Park with the 49 living Hall of Famers, speaking to each of them before they were introduced to the crowd. Many publishers wanted to do a book on the final season of the stadium and came to us because they knew we'd have more access than anyone else. It's our ballpark. We could go wherever we wanted."

Santasiere signed copies of "The Final Season" last week in Northampton during a visit with the Lehigh Valley Yankees Fan Club, a group he adores. He featured them with a short story in the first Yankees Magazine -- the gameday program -- ever sold in the new stadium.

The local Yankees fans are not pictured in "The Final Season," but Santasiere has so many never-published-anywhere-else gems that make his book the perfect Father's Day gift for any Yankees fan -- or any baseball fan, period.

Santasiere's words and photos will help everyone remember the place that not only hosted the Yankees' 26 world title teams, but also was the scene for the overtime classic between the Colts and Giants, three papal Masses, Knute Rockne's "Win one for the Gipper" speech and many other events that shaped the history of sports in this country.

"It became a place where fathers brought their sons and those sons grew up and brought their sons, and so on," Santasiere said. "It was one building, in one place for 85 years. I can tell you the story about my father taking me there for the first time when I was 7. There are millions who can tell their version of the same story."

And maybe that's why some are having such a hard time embracing the new place; that and the $5 price tag on a bottle of water.

But Santasiere says most of the criticisms are exaggerated.

"It's like when a legendary player retires and the team brings in a great, but new, player to replace him," he said. "Inevitably, it's human nature to wish you had the old player back. We started slow this year and that only added to the feeling that the past, the old stadium, was better. In time, the criticisms of the new stadium will vanish."